As depicted in FIG. 1, in a traditional network data delivery model, participants can be characterized as data producers and data consumers. Data producers are generally those that generate content, and data consumers are those that are interested in that content. This data delivery relationship may be short term or ongoing; it may also be subscription based. Also, participants may change roles from data producers to data consumers and vice versa, as the need may be, and thereby establish a collaborative environment.
Traditionally, multiple user participation or collaboration in database use and enhancement has occurred using a common data type and format. All participants are required to communicate with the database, and thus, each other, in a common data type such as English text.
This confined communication vehicle exists, for example, in forum discussion group databases. Organized dialogue between multiple users on a network, such as the Internet, can be accomplished though discussion groups, which are also called forums. Common discussion groups on the Internet presently are the USENET news groups, and online services typically host similar forum services.
In these network-based discussion groups, a user "posts" an article, which is distributed to the user's host computer and sent out over the network. The Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) mechanism is typically used to perform this function.
Each forum has a system for asynchronous collaboration, by arranging the subject matter in a forum hierarchy. Each forum consists of one or more categories. In a heart disease forum, for instance, one might find categories named "Bypass surgery" or "Angioplasty." The categories organize material within a forum, similar to headings in a book.
Within each category, one would find "topics" related to that category. The exemplary "Bypass surgery" category might have topics such as "Preparing for bypass surgery" or "Recovering from bypass surgery." Topics can include online articles or messages, which are also referred to as "posts."
A topic might present an opinion, provide information, or pose a question. In the topic "Recovering from bypass surgery," for example, a recent patient might describe what recovery was like so that others considering surgery would know what to expect.
Topics, whether they pose questions or not, might elicit responses from other forum participants. A user reading the "Recovering from bypass surgery" topic might have had a very different recovery experience. The user might feel compelled to write a response ("My experiences were different") to the topic. Another user might write a response agreeing with the topic ("My experience was the same as yours").
The forum also permits responses to responses, responses to those responses, and so on. All messages related to a single topic create what is known as a thread.
As shown in FIG. 2, in a discussion group, data consumers add value to data received when they respond, and as a result, a type of multilevel value-added chain is created in the process of producing data.
However, even these organized forums and value-added data chains have been limited to a single language, typically English, and have traditionally been restricted to text exchanges. Thus, participation is limited to those who can communicate in that text and language. Data producers and data consumers must use the same language.